Vikings OT Bryant McKinnie said his unexcused absence from the Pro Bowl last week was health-related and claimed that reaction to it was overblown.

The league dismissed McKinnie from the NFC all-star team last Saturday after he missed practice two days in a role. The Vikings' tackle blamed it on a misunderstanding:

"I understand I missed it. But they tried to make it seem like it was because (I was) at the club and couldn't get up. No. I had called (agent Drew Rosenhaus) and told Drew I wanted to withdraw."

McKinnie said he started to feel sick last week. The NFL has not announced if it will discipline him for missing the practices and the game.

Said McKinnie:

"There wasn't anything bad behind it. I just feel that they made it more than it really was. It wasn't like I got locked up somewhere and couldn't play in the game because I was in jail. That's how they made it seem. I just didn't know that it was going to be that serious."

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

About Nate Davis

Nate Davis is a reporter, blogger and editor who's been at USA TODAY since 2000. He has covered the NFL since 2005. No, he did not play quarterback for Ball State. Davis' succession of our esteemed colleague Sean Leahy at The Huddle is considered a Brady-for-Bledsoe swap by most "insiders."More about Nate